Mythology is a compilation of stories about people, which deals with their history, origin, ancestors, god, and heroes. However, when an individual thinks about Arabian mythology many ideas come to mind. Everyone thinks of Aladdin, magic carpets, and genies popping out of bottles. Ancient Gods

Hubal, The Supreme God.Previous to the religions of Islam and Christianity, Arabian mythology revolved around a supreme God Hubal. Similar to Allah, Hubal was chief of the gods. Out of more than 350 gods and idols, Hubal was regarded as the ultimate being of all. (" Islam: Truth or Myth?") Worshipping of gods was done in Mecca at a cube-shaped structure called Ka’aba. This place of worship is considered to be Islam’s holiest site (Kaaba). Allah’s Three Daughters.

Three leading goddesses played an important part of Arabian mythology: Allat, a fertility goddess who is mentioned as a desert goddess in the Quran; Al-Uzza, also a fertility goddess; and Manat (the goddess of fate). Because the Arabians worshipped the moon and Allah is considered the Moon God; his three “daughters” were very important.

(Arab Triple Goddess)
Other Gods. Wadd, the god of love and friendship; Amm the weather god; Al-Qaum the god of war; along with many other gods were worshipped in the past. However, with the worship of Allah, it is not as strong as it was in the past. Djinns

Whereas the Americas have their myths of witches and warlocks, Arabian mythology has the Djinns (also known as Jinn) or genie. Jinns possess magic with various levels of intensity. They decide to be good or evil and while there are a few different versions, most come basically in two types. Marids.

The Marids, considered the strongest type of Jinn, are the genies known for the granting those wishes to humans. One thing is that the wishes usually come with a price. A person has to impress the Jinn by beating him in a battle, capturing or release him from capture, carry out some type of ceremony, or some...

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...defeated gods, and Kingu was slain. With Kingu's blood, with clay from the earth, and with spittle from the other gods, Ea and the birth-goddess Nintu created humans. On them Ea imposed the labor previously assigned to the gods. Thus the humans were made to take over the chores of the Gods.
Interpretations
There are two parts to the Tiamat myth, the first in which Tiamat is creator goddess, through a "sacred marriage" between salt and fresh water, peacefully creating the cosmos through successive generations. In the second "Chaoskampf" Tiamat is considered the monstrous embodiment of primordial chaos. A Chaoskampf is the battle between a culture hero and a chthonic or aquatic monster, serpent or dragon. Chaoskampf motifs in other mythologies linked directly or indirectly to the Tiamat myth include the Hittite Illuyanka myth, and in Greek tradition Apollo's killing of the Python as a necessary action to take over the Delphic Oracle.
Robert Graves considered Tiamat's death by Marduk as evidence of his hypothesis that a shift in power from a matriarchy controlling society to a patriarchy happened in the ancient past. Grave's ideas were later developed into the Great Goddess theory by Marija Gimbutas, Merlin Stone and others. The theory suggests Tiamat and other ancient monster figures were presented as former supreme deities of peaceful, woman-centered religions that were turned into monsters when violent. Their defeat at the hands of a male hero...

...﻿Mesopotamian Mythology
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Longest and greatest literary composition written cuneiform Akkadian.
Story was constantly altered through oral narrative tradition
king of Uruk, who was two-thirds god and one-third man
Although Gilgamesh was godlike in body and mind, he began his kingship as a cruel despot. He lorded over his subjects, raping any woman ,whether she was the wife of one of his warriors or the daughter of a nobleman
Gilgamesh used force labourers to build his magnificent buildings and his exhausted subjects groaned under his oppression
The gods heard his subjects’ pleas and decided to keep Gilgamesh in check by creating a wild man named Enkidu, who was as magnificent as Gilgamesh
Enkidu became Gilgamesh’s best friend but later he died by a god inflicted illness and Gilgamesh was crushed
Gilgamesh then travels to the edge of the world to learn about the days before the great flood had struck and other secrets of the gods and wrote them down on tablets
Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to steal trees from a distant cedar forest forbidden to mortals. A terrifying demon named Humbaba, the devoted servant of Enlil, the god of earth, wind, and air, guards it. The two heroes make the journey to the forest, and fight with the monster. With assistance from Shamash the sun god, they kill him
Ishtar, the goddess of love, is overcome with lust for Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh ignores her. Enraged, the goddess asks her father, Anu, the god...

...The Arabian Peninsula
By: Minali Prasad
Due Date: December 7, 2011
Class Color: Sapphire
Table Number: 5
There are four different types of environments in the Arabian Peninsula.
Three-fourths of the Arabian Peninsula is desert. The desert has plains and plateaus. Temperatures can reach up to 120°F or drop down to below zero. There is 3 to 4 inches of rain per year with many droughts. Flash floods are caused by the annual rainfall.
The desert has many oases. Oases result in plants, shade, and water. An oasis begins when water deep underground travels to the surface. The soil around and oasis is very fertile, so it produces plant life like grass and shrubs. Oases range from a few acres to expansive areas. The water is beneficial for farmers as they can grow their crops there as well as trade them.
The coastal plain is surrounded by the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. The coastal plain varies from 5- 40 miles from the heart of Arabia. There are many cliffs along the shore. The damp, moist air is the result of regular rain. Sometimes, water fills the riverbeds that intercept the coastal plains. Farmers grow crops on the coastal plains. Traders also benefit from the coastal plains because there are seaports.
The mountain ranges line the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula. Their altitude is from 1,000 feet to 12,000 feet high. The mountains have 20 inches of...

...﻿Foundations of Mythology Short Answers
How is the word myth used popularly? For example, what does the statement, “It’s a myth” mean? In contrast, how is the word myth used in the academic context? After considering the definition in your textbooks and course materials, write a definition in your own words.
The word myth is used popularly in stories or tales that have been told over periods of time that are usually not completely true, but are told in way to be believed as true ("The white hat," 2010). The statement, “It’s a myth” means or refers to something that is not fully true, but it is claimed to be true. It’s basically like if some random person was to tell you a story that something happened to them that was seen as farfetched, in reality no one really knows if it actually happened or not. In contrast, the word myth in academic context is used as follows; Myths are ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions such as: How did the universe and world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave or not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways (Leonard & McClure, 2004)? My definition of a myth would be a farfetched story that we really do not know if it is true or not that are usually told to children to either...

...“vengeful destroyer” (Storybuilder User's Manual) towards Actaeon.
In conclusion, throughout underworld mythology the role of women can stray from the typical “temptress or goddess” and find their way to being a woman called to an adventure. They all have significance to be able to change mythology from a man only perspective, into one where a woman can also be the hero. Although most of the women in these myths are have more differences from the male heroic archetype than similarities, they still have some form of the heroic archetype to them: Psyche’s love for Cupid is tested through tasks, and Diana uses her vengeful destroyer attitude. The women of underworld mythology show that women are not just their beauty or for looking at, they have an underlying root of skill that should allow them their own heroic archetype as well.
Works Cited
Campbell, John. "Hero with a Thousand Faces." Magical Earth Maiden Pattern. Princeton University Press, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. .
Curtin, Jeremiah. "The King of Erin and the Queen of the Lonesome Island." Myths and Folk-lore of Ireland. Little, Brown and Company, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. .
Storybuilders User Manual. "Archetypes, Myths, and Characters." Archetypes, Myths and Characters. Seven Valleys Software, Glen Rock, PA, 1996-1998. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. .
Thury, Eva M., and Margaret Klopfle Devinney. Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to...

...R. Wier – Gateway College Prep School
1
Summer Reading Assignment: Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Pre-AP English I
All students planning to take Pre-AP English I need to read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology in its entirety and complete the following assignment prior to the first day of school. Students should expect to turn in assignments the first day of class for a major grade. Students are responsible for an understanding of the material in the book when school begins as we will have class discussions, assignments, and a test the second week of school. Why read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology? Greek Mythology is one of the most alluded to topics in all of literature. In order to have a better understanding of the literature read in high school, students need to have an awareness of Greek stories and characters. Items needed to complete assignment: notebook paper or white paper if your assignment is typed, a personal copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology to be used for this project and in class for the upcoming school year, and access to research materials either from a library or from internet access.
Assignments: Part A: Archetype Analysis of Myths from Mythology (50 points):
As you read Mythology, look for the archetypes listed below. For this part of the assignment you will choose four (4) of the myths told in Edith Hamilton's Mythology. For each of the four...

...Foundations of Mythology
Name Here
HUM / 105
Month Day, 2014
Instructor Name
Running head: FOUNDATIONS OF MYTHOLOGY
1
FOUNDATIONS OF MYTHOLOGY
4
Foundations of Mythology
Myths have been a great part of history, from the very moment humans roamed the green marble we call Earth. Therefore, mythology has become just as relevant in attempting to answer life's greatest questions as any scientific method. Myths have shaped our world from the very beginning to the world we live in today. We will explore the common meaning of myth versus the academic meaning of myth, what are some of the common mythological themes, and the relationship between belief, knowledge, mythology, and religion.
Myth is a word commonly used to describe "a widely held but false belief or idea," (Google, 2014). As an example, when someone says 'that's a myth,' they are commonly referring to something being false, untrue, or nonfactual. It is in this context that the majority of the population would use and have used the word myth. In an academic context, a myth is an ancient narrative that attempts "to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions," (Leonard & McClure, 2004, pg. 1). I would define a myth as a statement or event that is believed in without factual basis. Just because the facts elude us, does not make something untrue or false, merely unproven. If something remains unproven, it should not...

...Medieval MythologyMythology has been an important aspect of many cultures for countless centuries. Many different myths have been devised by mankind since even the simplest of societies. The medieval age also holds a plethora of unique myths fabricated by either medieval society, or derived from earlier generations. The Medieval times ranged roughly from 500 AD to 1500 AD. During this millennium, people were defined by their class. An example of a class in medieval times is the serf class, who were known for farming and manual labor. All of the many different classes of medieval citizens, strongly believed in the myths synthesized throughout many years.
Many of the myths furbished in the medieval ages created a mythical creature. This mythical creature was usually a fierce monster, however there were some less intimidating creatures such as unicorns. A unicorn is a small horse, often resembling a goat, that has an unnatural horn ejecting from its forehead. Although they are modernly known as harmless majestic creatures, the medieval citizens did not view them in the same way. They believed that unicorns are “fierce, strong and swift, and no hunter can catch it” (“Medieval Bestiary : Unicorn” 1). Unicorns would take prey on elephant by impaling said elephant with their spiraling horn. The myth behind the unicorn is that their horn is very valuable in the fact that it can detect and even counteract poisons. This made them a target to...